Dita Parlo (4 September 1906 – 13 December 1971) was a German film actress.

Born Grethe Gerda Kornstädt in Stettin (present-day Szczecin), Parlo made her first film appearance in Homecoming in 1928 and quickly became a popular actress in Germany. During the 1930s she moved easily between German and French language films, achieving success in such films as L'Atalante (1934) and La Grande Illusion (1937).

Parlo attempted to establish a career in American films but despite a couple of roles in Hollywood films, was unable to extend her European success. She was scheduled to appear in the proposed Orson Welles production of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for RKO Radio Pictures. However, that project did not come to pass, and Welles began work on Citizen Kane. With the outbreak of World War II, Parlo returned to Germany. She appeared in only three films during the last thirty years of her life making her final film appearance in 1965.

In more recent times, she has been referenced by Madonna, who said she had been fascinated by Parlo, and took her name for the character she created for her Sex book and Erotica album. Its title track commences with the line "My name is Dita, I'll be your mistress tonight... " Burlesque performer Dita Von Teese took her name in tribute to Parlo.^[1]

Filmography

• 1928 Geheimnisse des Orients
• 1928 Heimkehr
• 1928 Die Dame mit der Maske
• 1928 Ungarische Rhapsodie
• 1929 Manolesu - Der König der Hochstapler
• 1929 Melodie des Herzens
• 1930 Kismet (German version produced by Warner Brothers)
• 1930 Au bonheur des dames
• 1931 Die heilige Flamme
• 1931 Menschen hinter Gittern
• 1931 Tropennächte
• 1931 Honor of the Family
• 1931 Tänzerinnen für Süd-Amerika gesucht
• 1931 Wir schalten um auf Hollywood
• 1933 Rapt
• 1933 Mr. Broadway (US, starring Ed Sullivan)
• 1934 L'Atalante
• 1936 Mademoiselle Docteur
• 1937 La Grande Illusion
• 1937 Under Secret Orders (English-language version of Mademoiselle Docteur)
• 1938 L'affaire du courrier de Lyon
• 1938 Ultimatum
• 1938 La rue sans joie
• 1938 Paix sur le Rhin
• 1938 L'inconnue de Monte Carlo
• 1940 L'or du Cristobal
• 1950 Justice est faite
• 1965 La dame de pique

Wow!! I was born 4th September